Shuttle XPC SZ170R8 V2: Small but Powerful

Compact, efficient and incredibly powerful if you spring for the right parts, the Shuttle XPS SZ170R8 V2 has a lot going for it. The small form factor of the motherboard does not take away from its power. Even better is its capability as a portable machine.

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The live-action adaptation project for Ritz Kobayashi’s Mahjong manga is in full swing, and we are getting two new trailer s, which gives us new details on the project’s upcoming live-action film. The first video is the 60-second version, while the second video is the shorter 30-second version. According to the videos, the film is slated...

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Renesas has gone from being the sole USB 3.0 host controller maker to a company that's in a very competitive market with a handful of competitors, most of which offer far more affordable solutions. As such the company is now looking at lowering its pricing, but apparently this won't come into effect until early next year.

Renesas has gone from being the sole USB 3.0 host controller maker to a company that's in a very competitive market with a handful of competitors, most of which offer far more affordable solutions. As such the company is now looking at lowering its pricing, but apparently this won't come into effect until early next year.

Renesas is busy putting the finishing touches on its µPD720202 and µPD720201 USB 3.0 host controllers with two and four ports respectively and the company is expecting to have them out come October. Although no official pricing has been announced, Digitimes is now saying that we can expect the µPD720202 to drop in price to US$1.20 in early 2012, undercutting the competition by quite a fair margin.

Currently there's something of a shortage of the original µPD720200 which Renesas has replaced with the µPD720200A, but these are costly FPBGA chips, whereas the µPD720202 and µPD720201 will be much more affordable QFN chips. This could be part of why Renesas is able to lower the cost so radically, although this is also an economy of scales, so if you can churn out more chips, it gets cheaper. If nothing else, this is good news for consumers, as it means that we should get a blanket market penetration of USB 3.0 host controllers in even the most affordable computers.